Miami now holds what should be an insurmountable 3-1 lead in this Eastern Conference semifinals matchup after taking down the Bulls 86-65.

Beyond the points, James helped out with eight assists and grabbed seven rebounds for the Heat.

Chris Bosh added 14 points and six rebounds for Miami, who suffocated the Bulls to a playoff franchise low in points and field goal percentage (25.7 percent).

The Heat will seek to close out the series at home in Wednesday’s Game 5.

Video: LeBron James on the breakaway dunk in Game 4

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Cole came off the bench and provided the Heat with a crucial boost in the second half including a lethal three-pointer than drained the life out of the Bulls.

Miami eventually chipped away at a broken down Bulls unit to come away with the 104-94 victory.

The defending champion Heat took a 2-1 lead in an Eastern Conference semifinal series that has been physical and nasty.

James was involved in a heated exchange with Nazr Mohammed in the second quarter, that led to Mohammed’s ejection from the game after he pushed James to the court.

Chris Bosh also came through for Miami double-doubling 20 points and 19 rebounds.

Miami can take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series when the Bulls host the Heat on Monday.

Slow Motion Video: Miami Heat Takes Down The Bulls In Game 3

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As such, his tricks have become more intricate. They have gone from basic free-falling displays of skill to involving teammates.

It has given his critics one more reason to wolf about some thing that in the big picture is not that serious. It has also given fans that have died to enjoy him capture one certain accolade, reason to speak up.

The center of it all is the question  ’if he can do all of this why can’t he do the dunk contest during All-Star Weekend?’

To which James told the media that included ESPN that he may just put his act on the shelf if its going to become a distraction.

“Maybe I should stop because it’s making a lot of people mad about what I do,” James said after defeating Sacramento on Tuesday. “They’re like, ‘Well, if you can do it in warmups, why don’t you (want to) be in the dunk contest? Stop it.’ ”

Simple comment. But with real intent. When discussing it further, James went on to talk about how the Heat as a whole fare during the warm-up show.

“I’ve been hearing about it,” James said. “But I don’t really watch TV or go on the Internet too much. As a team, it’s kind of our new thing. I’ve had some good ones, but (Chalmers) doing a 360? That’s impressive. We have a little epidemic right now. It’s kind of like the Harlem Shake.”

Me? I enjoy the videos and when Miami gets back to my town, I’ll probably head down a bit earlier than normal. It is what it is. Truth be told, its more impressive that James notched a season-high 40-points and a career-high 16 assists on Tuesday.

Sure it was against Sacramento and in over double OT and all that.

But perhaps we are seeing another show that we won’t really appreciate as much as we should until it’s over.

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His recent run of play has been not nothing short of remarkable.

Over the past ten games James has averaged 31. points per game and has shot.621 percent.

His hot streak has collided directly with the week-long celebration of Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday.

It’s bad enough that the James vs. Jordan debate is the true new school vs. (sorta) old school debate.

Jordan himself chimed in to ESPN by side-swiping James and stating that forget LB vs. MJ, he would take Kobe Bryant over James.

Jordan’s criteria was based solely on championship rings.

“Five beats one every time I look at it,” Jordan said. “And not that (James) won’t get five. He may get more than that, but five is bigger than one.”

Initially James reaction was somewhat assertive.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” James said.”If you take Kobe one and I go second, it doesn’t matter. I don’t get too involved in what guys say about me or if you take Kobe or if you take LeBron. As long as I’m on the floor and I make plays for my teammates, I don’t do what I do for other people’s approval.”

A day later James rethought his stance with the Miami Herald and took a direct shot at the logic of Jordan’s comments.

“Jordan said he would take Kobe over me because five rings are better than one. At the end of the day, rings don’t always define someone’s career,” James said at the NBA All-Star Game. “If that’s the case, then I would sit up here and say I would take Bill Russell over Jordan. But I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six.

“Jud Buechler had multiple rings; Charles Barkley doesn’t have one ring. He’s not better than Barkley. Patrick Ewing is one of the greatest of all time. Reggie Miller is one of the greatest of all time.”

James may have played his trump card with that statement.

That does not mean that the talk will fade away.

If anything it will only get louder and more intense as he plays better.

The fact is that until James has it all, neither his supporters or detractors will be satisfied.

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James told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida that regardless of what the media says, scoring is deeply burned into the fabric of Bryant’s DNA.

“Do I buy that?” James said. “No. He told you all before, he’s a scorer. He said it every day, ‘I’m a scorer and this is what I do.’ So I don’t buy it. No. You guys buy it, though. I see how you all go, ’49 assists in four games,’ whatever. You guys are going crazy about that. I don’t buy that. He’s a scorer.’’

James and Bryant have been both rivals and teammates.

He most likely has a pretty good handle on what makes Bryant tick.

After only taking two shots in the first half of Friday’s victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, Bryant told Fox News that his group must be selfless to win.

“We have to play the right way,” Bryant said. “When we have shots available, we take them. If we don’t, move the ball on. It can’t be about individual touches. It can’t be about that.”

This all started when  Kobe clocked 48 assists over a four-game stretch that had Laker Nation jumping for joy.

Was the world waiting for Kobe Bryant to change his game up?

Not really.

The voltage was turned up because  we saw that it’s just another thing that he can do really well when he feels like it.

Part two to that is that basketball fans don’t want the Lakers to be this bad even if they hate them.

Had they lost to the Bobcats it would have been a crime against basketball.

Therefore, to witness Bryant go on a tear of a different sort that is helping them win games, is a welcome sight.

Sweep all of that under the rug.

Because in his heart of hearts, Bryant has always been and always will be the guy that needs to pull the trigger.

LeBron knows this and as the Heat prepare to host the Lakers on Sunday, he’s publicly calling Bryant out.

Will Bryant’s ego allow him to face his strongest peer and not attempt to takeover the game?

The playground politics that dominate the NBA says no.

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Obviously,Reggie Evans of the Brooklyn Nets must have thought James was getting soft.

He recently took a shot at the one thing that validated James’ career as one of the best: his championship.

To recap Evans told the New York Daily News that ‘ [ Lebron's]championship doesn’t prove nothing. That was a lockout season.” “

Our team is defending the Miami Heat,” Evans said “If our team has to defend one person, LeBron isn’t going to score nothing.

LeBron is no different from Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. No different,” Brooklyn’s starting power forward said. “People need help (defending certain players). Some people don’t need help. Everybody has to be double-teamed, it doesn’t matter who you are. You just have to stop LeBron in transition.”

So how did that work out when the Heat faced the Nets on Wednesday?

The Nets got thumped 105-85 and  James finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

James spoke to ESPN after the game.

“You can’t just come out and say something like that versus a champion,” James said. “No one knows what it takes unless you’ve done it. You can’t sit here and judge and talk about a team winning a championship unless you’ve done it. (Evans) hasn’t done it.”

James proceeded to quote the stat sheet.

“Let me look at his numbers real quick — he had no offensive rebounds, so we did our number on him,” James said.

James also stated that he did not speak to Evans after the game.

“For what? I let my game do the talking,” James said. “I’m not going to sit here and give Reggie Evans a lot of press, because that is what is going to happen for the next couple days.”

Reggie Evans did not speak to the media after the game.

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James was the model of class as he embraced and celebrated with a fan who sank a halfcourt shot to win $75,000  during the halftime of  Friday’s victory over the Detroit Pistons.

James rushed and tackled Michael Drysch, a 50-year-old computer technician who according to ESPN was chosen to take the shot by the LeBron James Family Foundation at American Airlines Arena.

“That was awesome, man,” James said. “I was excited for him. When he wound up like that, I was like, ‘Oh no, there’s no way.’ And then when I saw it in the air, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s got a chance.’ I was happy to be a part of that.”

Drysh did not see the 6’8 250 lb. James coming his way and was stunned when he landed upon him.

“It’s a great way to meet somebody like that,” Drysch said. “I had no idea he was coming over to me like that. That was amazing. What a great feeling to experience something like this.”

“They told me to put some spin on the ball, and get it up there as high as I could,” Drysch said. “I had made that shot something like 1 percent of the time in my life.”

Dwyane Wade joked after the game that Drysh may have a future with the Heat.

“That was an unbelievable shot,” Wade said. “We might need to sign him and bring him back for late-game situations.”

With sharpshooter Ray Allen discussing retirement, Wade may be on the right track.

The post Video Report: LeBron James tackles fan after amazing halfcourt shot. appeared first on Players View.

James took Thursday off for treatment and did participate in Friday morning’s workout.

He updated ESPN on his status after aggravating a earlier knee injury during Wednesday’s victory over Dallas.

“It’s been better,” James said when asked how his knee handled treatment.  ”I’m going to try to get in the training room to get some more work done on it, and hopefully by tonight I’ll be out there for my guys.”

LeBron’s minutes have been through-the-roof as of late. He could probably stand to take a day or two off just to rest.

He’s in the prime of his career but it does not make a lot of sense to wear him down this early into the season.

Teams have benches for a reason and James did not get a moment off during the second half of Monday’s game against Orlando.

“I didn’t want to come in [Friday] assuming anything,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s had a couple of knick-knack injuries that would probably be bigger injuries for other people the way he’s been hit. But because he’s so sturdy and strong, he’s been able to absorb that kind of contact.”

LeBron laughed off the proclamation that he can push a great deal harder than the average player.

“Spo always thinks I’m OK,” James jokingly said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s always the same with Spo. He doesn’t see any injury at all on anyone, so that doesn’t change with him.”

A great coach will push his players to the limit. A legendary one knows when to let them sit down .

If James does play he won’t be the only guy on the floor fighting through something.

The Bulls’ Joakim Noah will be playing despite a tussle with the flu bug.

“Yeah, just the holidays, people come to town, you get all kinds of germs in your house and (stuff),” Noah said.

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“And I know where he is, too. He’s in Oklahoma. He’s my inspiration because I see the direction he’s headed, and it’s the same direction I’m headed. I know his mind-set, and he knows mine. It’s a collision course. We’re driving one another.”

On Thursday Durant responded to James’ comments in a conversation with the Oklahoman. “Well, I really appreciate that comment because people want us to hate each other so bad. That’s true. People want us to hate each other,” Durant said. “I really respect him and I really compete against him hard — him and Kobe (Bryant).

I play against those guys, they’re the guys who I’m looking at, who I want to get to, and I compete against those guys really, really hard, but we’re friends.

We’re friends, everybody knows that. Once you get on that court and you’re playing against one of your friends, you play to win no matter what. Sometimes he might get the best of you, I might get the best of him one time. But I really respect him (James) and that’s cool that he thinks of me that way and I’ve just got to keep working hard to continue to get better.”

Kevin Durant personifies the term class in the face of adversity. It’s no secret that he had a hard time facing James shortly after the finals when they were part of the Summer Olympics team. It’s no secret that his will to win is extreme.

The problem for some is that they want Durant to morph into some sort of Ric Flair-style trash talker that’s boastful and consistently taking shots at James who is the current king-of-the-mountain.

Let the man live and watch him tap into the greatest Kevin Durant that he can be on his own terms.

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The Heat became the first team in the Eastern Conference to win seven games and improved to 3-2 on a six-game road trip that ends Saturday in Phoenix.

LeBron James led Miami with 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists.

Check out his dominant performance below.

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Anthony hit four of New York’s 19 long-range shots Friday and scored 30 points as the Knicks closed out an emotional 104-84 win over Miami.

The game was the first major sporting event in the New York area since the devastation that was brought on by Super Storm Sandy.

You would not have known that trouble was hanging over their heads as the Knicks blasted the Heat during all four quarters with 3-pointers that dropped with deadly accuracy.

In a moving tribute to what he’s accomplished, the crowd at Madison Square Garden rallied for an appearance from the unretired veteran Rasheed Wallace to step on the floor as the game was closing out.

Wallace returned to the NBA to play in a reserve role for Knicks coach Mike Woodson out of respect.

Wallace hit a dagger that almost ran the clock out to prove that on this night, the Knicks could do no wrong.

For Miami, LeBron James scored 23 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade was held to 15.

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As New York pulls itself out of the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy, there are those that feel that now is not the time to entertain sporting events.

In particular, there is a debate regarding whether or not the New York Marathon race should be ran.

On a smaller scale, a similar debate is at hand as to whether or not the area is ready to host an NBA game after the Knicks canceled Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.

The Heat’s Dwyane Wade sides with those that feels as if there are much bigger issues at hand than a basketball game.

“I just felt that [there were] bigger things to be concerned about than us being here to play a basketball game,” Wade told ESPN. “Obviously, sports & takes people’s minds away from things, but I think there are bigger things that need to be done here in this city.”

Wade came under fire after he tweeted what appeared to be a complaint about the area’s traffic concerns when the Heat touched down.

“We deal with traffic all the time,” Wade said. “It was more so that this city is dealing with so much. If we’re in the car and we’re in traffic for three hours & what are the other people that are really affected by this, what are they doing? How are they getting around? How are they moving?

“It was just like, ‘C’mon man. We shouldn’t be here to play a basketball game. If anything, we should be here to do something to help the city.’”

Wade’s peer LeBron James sees both sides of the debate.

“I think we’re all in agreeance when we say getting everything situated and getting everything back up running from the hurricane is more important than the basketball game,” James said. “But there’s also people that believe that we need this basketball game for a lot of spirits and a lot of families.

“So I’m kind of 50-50 with it as well. I’m happy to be here to play a basketball game, but if the people that [are] here at the basketball game or the people that [are] helping out with this game could give their efforts to make the city run and make these families come out of the situation, then I think that’s more important.”

To play or not to play?

Sports can indeed help remove the heaviest of weights during the toughest of times.The Miami Heat will help the New York Knicks kick off their season-opener at Madison Square Garden on Friday evening.

As New York pulls itself out of the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy, there are those that feel that now is not the time to entertain sporting events.

In particular, there is a debate regarding whether or not the New York Marathon race should be ran.

On a smaller scale, a similar debate is at hand as to whether or not the area is ready to host an NBA game after the Knicks canceled Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.

The Heat’s Dwyane Wade sides with those that feels as if there are much bigger issues at hand than a basketball game.

“I just felt that [there were] bigger things to be concerned about than us being here to play a basketball game,” Wade told ESPN. “Obviously, sports & takes people’s minds away from things, but I think there are bigger things that need to be done here in this city.”

Wade came under fire after he tweeted what appeared to be a complaint about the area’s traffic concerns when the Heat touched down.

“We deal with traffic all the time,” Wade said. “It was more so that this city is dealing with so much. If we’re in the car and we’re in traffic for three hours & what are the other people that are really affected by this, what are they doing? How are they getting around? How are they moving?

“It was just like, ‘C’mon man. We shouldn’t be here to play a basketball game. If anything, we should be here to do something to help the city.’”

Wade’s peer LeBron James sees both sides of the debate.

“I think we’re all in agreeance when we say getting everything situated and getting everything back up running from the hurricane is more important than the basketball game,” James said. “But there’s also people that believe that we need this basketball game for a lot of spirits and a lot of families.

“So I’m kind of 50-50 with it as well. I’m happy to be here to play a basketball game, but if the people that [are] here at the basketball game or the people that [are] helping out with this game could give their efforts to make the city run and make these families come out of the situation, then I think that’s more important.”

To play or not to play?

Sports can indeed help remove the heaviest of weights during the toughest of times.

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He’s the king of the NBA for the moment and somehow, someway the rumors and speculation will hit a fever pitch that will surpass what he has dealt with before.

Take Thursday’s rumor that the Los Angeles Lakers are in cue to bring James to their roster to eventually replace Kobe Bryant.

The far-fetched speculation looked into the future and drummed up a world where the Miami Heat would no longer be able to afford James and that the Lakers would be willing to write him an open check.

James was quick to discuss the situation on Thursday but stated that he is only rooted in the present.

“I’m here, and this is what it’s all about,” James told ESPN. “I’m preparing for this season, preparing to defend our title and that’s it. This is where … I’m here now.”

“It’s not frustrating,” James said. “Guys are making stories every day. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m true to my teammates. I’m here and this is what it’s all about — us building and trying to get better as a team. Anyone can write a story. If you have ESPN, then it becomes credible. So do what you’ve got to do.”

James’ teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were quick to jump up and speak on the subject as well.

“They (media) can leave my teammate alone, man,” Wade said. “Get on with that. He’s going to be here. We’re straight. So they can go and mess with somebody else.”

“It’s old news,” Bosh said. “We’ve been there before. All of us experienced that with 2010. That’s pretty much it. We can’t really worry about all that stuff.”

If we saw one thing from James last season is that he continues to work on maintaining to focus and block out obstacles.

“That story, I don’t know where it came from, but I understand why it came up because of who I am — it’s going to happen,” James told reporters. “But I’m not going to worry about it. I’ve got to continue to stay focused with these guys and make sure we’re ready for any challenges that come.”

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However the desire to create and market the title speaks volumes to the expectations hang over James and the rest of the Miami Heat.

The theme of the book takes an interesting spin that we won’t spoil for you. Enjoy the preview. The rest can be viewed at ESPN.

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Check out the Miami Heat taking it to the Los Angeles Clippers in Beijing, China and other highlights from October 11th.

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The Heat jumped all over them in the first period, watched them come back to tie the contest going into the half and then tore them up like tissue paper the rest of the way out.

Will it be this easy for the Heat the rest of the way out? Absolutely not, the Celtics have too much talent and too much pride to let that happen.

The problem is as predicted and as they displayed, the Celtics are worn down from two brutal series against the Hawks and 76ers respectively.

LeBron James was dominant than his double-double of 32 points and 13 rebounds suggests. Once again he took on the role of the leader and the aggressor and last night the role of the comedian.

Towards the end of the game, the Celtics Kevin Garnett hard fouled James and as James handed the ball off to the official, Garnett gave James that Mr. T intimidation stare thing that he does when he’s trying to scare somebody. The only thing that James chose to do was laugh in his face.

Garnett has bullied people for his entire career and now it seems that he’s being pushed him off the playground.

Still, he paced his team with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The Celtics most likely won’t win this series but make no mistake about it, they will not go quietly. The controversy may start as early as Game 2.

The post Lebron James paves the way as the Miami Heat dominate the Celtics 93-79. appeared first on Players View.

The Heat are heavily favored by Players View to win in five games, but that prediction can go south if the team starts reading the predictions and buying into the hype.

During the second half of Game 1 LeBron James was the aggressive terror that he has been for some time now.

LeBron on auto-pilot is better than most.  LeBron when he’s angry eats teams alive and during his career I can’t remember a period when he has played this mad for this long.

Playing mad does not show up in the stats sheet. Don’t bother breaking numbers out to e-mail me. You can “like” us on Facebook though. That was a joke…kinda.

Playing mad is when the power he dunks with seems to bend the rim, it’s the near refusal to cut-up and smile with opponents during games, the focus that he maintains even when games are well in hand.

Playing mad just might be his ticket to the promised land.

Watching him play mad at this part of his career is interesting to see because it’s almost as if he has flipped a switch and said to himself  ‘ok I’m not playing with these dudes anymore.’

Normally this goes on for maybe two to three games at a shot. He’s been in this place since they were defeated by a Bulls team in OT that did them in with their bench players.

So what did that get him last night? James came up with a mighty double-double of 32 points and 15 rebounds Sunday.

Did all of the talk that Kevin Durant should have received his MVP award over the weekend, irk him even more? I don’t think anybody cares right now besides the Heat, the Pacers and their respective fan bases.

Dwyane Wade owned 29 points as the Big Three was reduced to the Big Two after forward Chris Bosh left the game with an abdominal strain.

Indiana’s David West double-doubled with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Roy Hibbert chipped in 17 and 11.

It’s not as easy as one down and three to go but  after struggling with an Orlando

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A major announcement is forthcoming at the Heat’s American Airlines Arena on Saturday.

Via the Associated Press, James was quoted in the NBA article stating that he prefers team oriented goals.

“What I’m all about is team and ever since I was a kid, I was always taught its team first,” James said on Friday. “My first time playing basketball, we went undefeated and won a championship and Frank Walker Sr. gave everyone on the team a MVP trophy. Right then and there, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to see my teammates reap the benefits as well.”

He was named league MVP in both 2009 and 2010 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LeBron is one of eight players in league history to win the MVP award at least three times. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the honor six times; Michael Jordan and Bill Russell won it five times each; Wilt Chamberlain was a four-time winner; and Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone captured the award three times each.

“I think LeBron is an MVP candidate every year,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said last month. “It’s just who he is. He only does everything. So I don’t know what more you can ask from him.

“LeBron, to me, is the favorite every year,” Rivers added. “The years he doesn’t win it, it’ll usually be because people are just tired of voting for him. Statistically, if you go all-around game, I don’t know how you don’t vote for him every year.”

There will be fallout in regards to the accolade as many fans felt that this year the title belonged to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant.

Durant led the league in scoring, followed by Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. James was third.

James averaged 27.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season.

There is the thought that perhaps the league should wait until the season concludes to hand out the winner.

It’s less about who wins the finals and more about overall dynamic play. We are seeing some of the gutsiest and dynamic play right now in the post-season.

If a candidate’s team didn’t make it, then should they be a candidate at all?

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Carmelo Anthony was holding the team together by sheer dynamic will. Jeremy Lin was out. Amare Stoudemire was getting his Dusty Rhodes on with inanimate objects. Coach Mike Woodson could not develop schemes that could counter the Heat. The beat goes on and on and on.

It a true show of character the Knicks managed to squeak  one out in Game 4 after Dwyane Wade missed a buzzer beater.

But even the Knicks knew better. There was no it’s not over till its over talk. This series did not belong to them.

Wednesday night Lebron James did what LeBron James does.  He led the Heat with 27 points in a game that felt like a closing ceremony.

By the fourth period, Miami had built up a solid 14-point lead.

Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both had 19 points for the Heat.

For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony put up 35 points. Amare Stoudemire added 14.

The Miami Heat freight train’s next stop is Indiana to take on a Pacers team that regardless of the series record, really struggled with the Orlando Magic.

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This is what makes LeBron James tick. Throughout the years, he’s always been at his best either when he has something to prove or an obstacle to overcome.

This series started off as minor footnote of the Heat’s quest to shut the world up with a championship. Game 1 quickly dismissed any delusions that the Knicks could pull this off.

Tonight, MSG’s crowd made it personal and in the fourth quarter James rolled the Knicks up for 17 humiliating points.

Coming out of the third period, it looked close and then at will Miami went to work and once again a helpless looking Mike Woodson stared off into space with no answers on how to stop the bleeding.

James scored a total of 32 points making 12-of-13 from the foul line.

Dwyane Wade added 20 and Mario Chalmers had 19 for the Heat. Chris Bosh, who made a quick round trip to Miami to be with his wife when she delivered their child, snatched 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Carmelo Anthony was the lone bright spot for the Knicks scoring 22 points.

The post LeBron James dominates the fourth. Heat dismantle the Knicks 87-70 appeared first on Players View.

They said they were too old to get it done.  Now the Celtics are fighting for home court advantage against their first round playoff partners, The Atlanta Hawks.

Both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have rested here and there and key players such as Rajon Rondo, Mickael Pietrus Ray Allen and Greg Stiemsma are all banged up.

The Celtics and the Hawks always play each other hard in the post-season and with their veterans holding back the years, do the Celtics have enough gas left in the tank to get them all the way to the finals?

The prediction is no.

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That quote is one of my personal favorites. Nevermind that it comes from the Spiderman saga, it speaks to the true nature of what must happen when one can over-power situations and how they must handle that power.

Ever since the NBA All-Star game, the latest reason to dog LeBron James out has been his perceived inability to take ‘’ the shot.”

When we say “the shot,” we don’t mean key buckets that tie games or bring them close in the fourth quarter which he often does, we mean the game winning, run down the court, rip your jersey off, pound-on-your-chest buzzer beater that makes the world go crazy and gets you love from every basketball analyst in the world.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” We already said that right? Ok, good.

Ever since, Carmelo Anthony re-entered the New York Knicks line-up as many absolutely feared, Jeremy Lin’s production train has grinded to a halt.

Pass the rock, share the leather, be a team player, these are the phrases thrown at Melo.

The court of public opinion is a crazy, crazy place.  One guy gets static for passing the ball and the other guy gets it for hogging the ball.

One question remains, who is winning ball games right now? That team would be the Heat.

I get it; LeBron was anointed to be this almighty being with the ability dunk over tall buildings in a single bound.

He tried that roller-coaster in Cleveland and obviously he wasn’t feeling it.  There are only two other teams in the NBA right now that can consistently hang with the Heat at their best and that’s the Oklahoma Thunder and the Chicago Bulls.

The Knicks after their quick rush to the top of the media charts have a lot to work out and perhaps at some point they will be a sincerely relevant team that can use all of their pieces to their best advantage.

But right now? These guys have to learn to play together and it appears that is going to be an issue for the immediate future.

Sports are their competitive peak are games that are played by instinct. If James instinctly feels that dishing the ball gives his team the best chance to win, it’s respectable for him to listen to his inner voice and not force a shot just to impress some people.

We all have egos and James visibly has a big one. You don’t think somewhere inside of him last night that he didn’t want to shut the world up and bury that field goal? But he chose to be a team guy and let Dwyane Wade finish it off.

C’mon let’s be real.  That game winner that everybody wants to see so badly will come. Then it will on to the fall back argument of he has no rings.

And so it will go. It reminds me a lot of what I observed growing up with former Miami Dolphins QB Dan Marino.

If Marino played in the age of the internet and high access media, he would have got skewered, burned at the stake, buried alive and tarred and feathered after all of that.

The point to all of this is that it strikes me as very interesting as to how we all (myself included) pick and choose our spots with athletes based on what we want to see them do.

There is no consistency. It’s just what we personally what we want to see them achieve. We take that perceived flaw and harp on that until they get it right.

Is it fair? Nope. But I guess as Louie Anderson said in Coming To America, that’s (why they) make the big bucks.

The post LeBron should take the shot & Carmelo should pass the rock. What both should really do. appeared first on Players View.

Call it chemistry, call it an integral part of an evolving dynasty, call it whatever you like it. The truth is he won’t be a MVP candidate. The truth is if the Heat gets the title this year the headline will be LeBron James finally gets his ring. The truth is that Miami will still be Dywane Wade’s city when you touch down in the 305.

But another stone cold truth is that none of it can happen without Chris Bosh; and if it does the Heat will look well…mighty regular making it happen.

Bosh’s selfless attitude and play allows Miami to execute as the killing machine that everyone expects them to be.

In the specifics of last night’s moments, Wade ended up not finishing the game as his right ankle “turned” and started giving him problems again.

He is scheduled to play against the Atlanta Hawks tonight, so it’s certain that his absence from the second half of last night’s massacre was more precautionary than necessary.

It boded well for the Nets’ pride as well because the Heat came out playing angry ball after losing a winnable marquee contest against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

There was never a sense that they were going to take their foot off the Nets’ throat. Had Wade taken the floor in the second half this one could have easily read 128-78.

From the tip-off, New Jersey looked overwhelmed at the prospect of facing this team. In today’s NBA there is a sincere parity where anyone can win on any given night; for the most part.

It was interesting to say the least to observe a Nets team that appeared to be beaten from the first bucket.

Deron Williams, who had just beasted Charlotte (I know) for 57, was held to under twenty points with 16.  Brooke Lopez is and will be out of the line-up for awhile, but does that excuse the Nets for being down 40 at one point?

Semi-off topic, last week a lot of people said that there will never be another person that touches Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game again.  I stated that it will happen again because everything is situational and there will be another situation that arises.

The Miami Heat wins as a true ensemble of powerful pieces. But I can tell you  now, watching that Nets team play as dejected as they did, that if LeBron smelled blood in the water and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decided to divert the scoring to one primary source, it could have happened.

The Nets would have allowed it to happen, the Heat could have made it happen and Kobe Bryant would have been furious that it happened.

On to some additional stats.  Before he left, Wade scored 13. For the Nets, MarShon Brooks scored 12 and Johan Petro scored 11.

Tonight, the Heat will see a Hawks team that is struggling to figure out who and what they are. The Nets will host the visiting Los Angeles Clippers that are apparently walking into a choice situation as they are looking to get their groove back.

The post With the return of Chris Bosh,Miami Heat return to aggressive form; crush the Nets 108-78. appeared first on Players View.

If there is one reason to point to the Heat’s 93-83 loss, it has to be Miami playing with a lack of composure.  There were opportunities at every points of this ball game for the Heat to put all of the pieces together.

The score may show you a ten point victory, but the truth is that the Lakers took advantage of a Heat team that for whatever reason did not complete turnovers, missed key shots and just did not finish.

If you hear someone say that the Heat beat themselves, that assessment is dead on accurate.

With forward Chris Bosh out of the line-up due a death in his family, the Heat did not play as centered as they have been recently.

Two weeks ago one could argue they would have blown the Lakers out much like they were destroying other teams.

In reality, the Lakers Kobe and all are not built to withstand the onslaught that the Heat reguarly brings to the court.

All of that analysis does not mean anything though. At the final buzzer who had the most points? The Los Angeles Lakers did and that’s what counts .

Let’s be real though, bringing up a certain point is getting old.  With five minutes left in the contest and a manageable deficit to overcome, Dwyane left the contest after questionably fouling out.

Every viewer thought: It’s LeBron’s time. But the point that needs to be retired is that LeBron James can’t single-handedly tale over games and live up to the legacy that his marketing folks created for him ahead of his actual accomplishments.

Whether he can or whether he cannot, what mattered this afternoon is that he didn’t.  When he appeared to injure his ankle down the tail end of the game more than one person said the he just didn’t have it in him to finish.

So the film editors that cut up the game reels can focus on Kobe again and keep it pushing. Kobe earned that spotlight playing like a phenomenon right out of the gate despite the injury and the protective mask he’s donning because of it.

If LeBron ever dons his cape we can discuss that then. But for now, the truth is that he’s the biggest piece in a talented assemble that was 66% shy of it’s primary force.

Oh yes force, it was a show of brute force by both teams. Metta World Peace had that caged tiger look again and he punished any player that got in his way from the Heat’s bench.

Udonis Haslem tried to replace Bosh in his absence and it was quite frankly a bad, bad look; especially in the first half.  In a normal scenario, Shane Battier’s production of 3 rebounds, 4 assists and seven points would have looked pretty good; not today.

Since we do our power rankings Wednesday to Wednesday, the Heat have some hope of holding on to their to the number one spot with games against New Jersey and Atlanta but there is no doubt that the Lakers are moving onward and upward.

The post Miami Heat lose their composure in key loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. appeared first on Players View.

Had the NBA schedule makers known that Dwyane Wade was going to knock Kobe Bryant into a protective mask worthy of a villain from a Marvel Comics movie, this would a primetime game; there is no doubt.

The fans are sitting back licking their chops for some violence that most likely won’t come.  There will be some hard fouls but there won’t be anything dished out there that will make front page news.

The Lakers have too much to lose. Right now they are getting back to being treated seriously again after a near collapse signaled their decline.

Kobe Bryant mask

We discussed trade scenarios that would allow the team to build another championship caliber squad around Kobe. We discussed issues with age. We discussed coaching issues. We discussed every nook and cranny of what we as outsiders could try to figure out what was going on in that locker room.

Now, the ship has been righted somewhat and we started talking about what game Bryant would select to be his 100 pt. game on the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s defining game.

If the playoffs were today the Lakers would have the fourth seed in the Western Conference.  After some wins last week that included Friday’s 117-105 victory over a young Sacramento team, the Lakers are starting to “look” the part again.

Some assorted suspension worthy drama today with a player like Andrew Bynum or Meta World Peace would more or less kill any momentum that has just gathered.

This prediction is not that this game won’t be intense. Both teams will get out there and throw some bows. Both teams will fight hard to win this game that they know the whole world is watching. That will happen.

This blood feud that supposedly was initiated last weekend?  That won’t happen. Wade has profusely apologized and Bryant has accepted.

We all know that Kobe holds a grudge deeper than most people, so for him to work media trail to make sure it’s known that things are cool with Wade, there has to be some truth to it.

Any baiting and/or issues that he has with anyone on the Heat squad are probably with his assumed peer LeBron James whom Kobe feels is not on his level. Oh yes, LeBron.

LeBron James is suddenly on the hot seat again for failing to be a closer.

Kobe taunted him last week during the closing seconds of the All-Star game to ‘take the shot.’ James opted to throw up an ugly pass in lieu of more or less proving he could school Bryant at will.

On Friday night, the Heat lost their first game in 10 efforts after James failed to throw up a game-winner against the Utah Jazz.  What he did he do?  He passed the ball and lost the game.

This is not the space to discuss when, where or how James will take the final remaining step to his accession as our generation’s dominant force.  That will happen most likely come play-off time.

But for now, the stage is set for one of the most exciting games that we’ve seen all year.  Will the Lakers go head hunting for Wade? Will a formerly downtrodden Lakers team be able to avenge a January loss to the Heat?  Does LeBron have it in him to take control of this game and be the “man?”

The answers to these and other questions will be answered at 3:30 p.m. EST.

The post Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Will it be a brawl or a battle of wills? appeared first on Players View.

Game Review

Top 10 Plays

Antawn Jamison’s 32 Points.

Paul George Swings The Hammer

Mike Conley For The Steal

Tyreke Evans From Downtown

James To Wade…Again

The post NBA Video Recap: Video Scores & Highlights From 2-21-12 appeared first on Players View.

Recap:

Kevin Durant Throwing It Down:

Earl Watson’s Big-Time Pass

Jeremy Lin And  His 14 Assists

Jrue Holiday Brings In The Hammer!

President Bill Clinton Gets A Standing Ovation At The Heat/Magic Game

The Heat Makes It Look So Easy

Kenneth Faried Tells Russell Westbrook ‘ yeah not so much.’

The post NBA Video Recap: Video scores & highlights from 2-19-12 appeared first on Players View.

Let’s start with the recap.

The Kanye West song “Heartless” came to mind when LeBron James threw this dunk down on his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Let’s borrow a phrase from Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch as we say that the Sun’s Shannon Brown went into “Beast Mode.”

Both Gasol and Nash display their touch pass skills.

Dante Cunningham secures the win for the Grizzlies with less than a second to play. PERFECT execution.

The post NBA Video Recap: Watch the big moments from 2-17-12 appeared first on Players View.

Daily Recap

Kobe Gets Busy 

Rajon Rondo Gets Back Into Form

The LeBron Show Comes To Atlanta

Stephen Curry Goes To The Hoop

John Wall Dishes It Out

The post NBA Score Card: the scores and video highlights from 2-12-12 appeared first on Players View.

Let’s start with a video recap for 2-10-2012.

Scores & Highlights

Toronto: 86

Boston: 74

Atlanta: 89

Orlando: 87

Miami: 106

Washington: 89

Chicago: 95

Charlotte: 64

L.A. Clippers: 78

Philadelphia:  77

Milwaukee:        113

Cleveland:          112

New Jersey:       92

Detroit:                109

Portland:             94

New Orleans:   86

Dallas:                   104

Minnesota:         97

Indiana:                92

Memphis:           98

LA Lakers:            85

New York:              92

Oklahoma City: 101

Utah:                         87

The post NBA Score Card: scores and highlights appeared first on Players View.

The Florida Panthers put it together  in a overtime win over the Hurricanes yesterday.

The Lakers address the rumors as they get ready for to start playing for keeps.

Jimmy Rollins will stay on as the SS for the Phillies.

Lebron is still well…Lebron

Bob Costas is a veteran journalist with a strong opinion. But this one is lame.

The post Sports Log 12-19-2011 appeared first on Players View.

If you read Thoughts For The Day, you already know how we feel about this.

If you still have doubts about the Syracuse basketball program, you might want to think again.

Former Chicago Bears WR Sam Hurd made his $100,000 bail.

Tony Romo won a game in December. PV was wrong, we can admit that. In other runaway news regarding the Cowboys, check out this golf cart that went on a mission of destruction.

The post Sports Log 12-18-2011 appeared first on Players View.

Thought: Were you as impressed as I was with the new Lebron James commercial? I almost ran outside and started doing suicide sprints out of pure embarrassment for the current state of my athletic prowess.

Thought: Does Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman have a problem with his head coach? He’s playing far below his skill level with the full knowledge that Rahiem Morris is on the hot seat.

Thought: The Milwaukee Brewers have won the right to work out a deal with Japanese center fielder Norichika Aoki. Curiosity wonders why other pro sports don’t traverse the globe on a larger scale looking for talent.

Thought:  Is it really a possibility that the Rams would double-down and pick another QB in the draft next year? Think about it.

Thought: College football fans need to organize and do a Million Man March kind of deal to demand a playoff system. The time for action is now.

The post Thoughts For The Day: 12-18-2011 appeared first on Players View.

King James Grounded In 2011?

The NBA’s current labor dispute is ridiculous. This conversation can begin and end there but there are many sports fans that are suffering in the dark without their S.O.C. (Sport of Choice).

Where the NFL, its players and its owners went out of their way to keep the fans in the loop of what was going on with their drama this past off-season, the forces that surround the hoop are taking a different approach.

I suspect that this could be because if the primary issues really were really put on a large pedestal that they would make all parties involved look well…petty.

Don’t get me wrong the information is out there. But beyond the diehard fans, who’s really searching for it?  Then again the NBA doesn’t have its own network of merit to discuss its woes either.

Either way, at the heart of the really big issue is money.  Some teams are making money but most teams are losing money.

The owner’s solution to this quandary is to take money from the player’s piece of the pie.  Powerhouse teams such as The Los Angeles Lakers or The Miami Heat could help solve the issue by agreeing to share revenue with small market teams that have a hard time acquiring the services of the game’s marquee players that fill the seats and help Nike sell shoes.

This works for the NFL and was done in the spirit of a term called parity.  Parity in its core essence helps to maintain a competitive and financial balance within the system. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t always work but in situations like this, it at least provides a strong foundation from which to start negotiations from during scenarios such as this.

When looking at the big picture, team revenue sharing is the only way for the NBA to avoid this same messy scrape over and over and over and over again.

This is a matter of simple numbers. Orlando, Florida home to the Orlando Magic according to the 2010 Census has a population of 238,300 people.  Los Angeles, California home to the mighty Los Angeles Lakers according to that same poll has a population of 3,792,621 people.

In these hard economic times, which team do you think has a better chance of finding fans with enough disposable income to afford tickets to over 40 home games, escalated concession and parking prices and assorted merchandise bearing the team’s logo?

Of course it’s the Lakers. So, even if the players back down in November when they start missing paychecks, giving up a percentage of their pie doesn’t solve the problem at hand. A team like Oklahoma City will most likely never draw in the kind of money that New York does.

So for the sake of argument if the players lose this round, what happens when the ink on this agreement grows null and void?

There is only one way to permanently get a grip on this issue of revenue envy. The owners need to get together divvy up their pot for the sake of parity.  Then and only then can they step and say ‘we did our best to avoid this situation but….’

Regardless of salary caps and the pleas for budget slashing at every level to make teams financially solvent, the fact is that organizations will spend what they have to spend to get the best talent available.

In that pursuit, when they lose money they need answers. And in that regard the owners are not wrong. No business should accept operating at a loss.

However, when a common sense solution is staring you in the face, ego and greed will always lead you down the wrong path and ultimately the fans will suffer.

As a good friend stated last night ‘they can keep slashing that schedule if they want to. Hockey is looking damn good right about now.’

  -Adrian Gregory Glover 

The post Is The NBA Done In 2011? appeared first on Players View.